Alpha Omega LIFEPAC Math provides homeschool families a
complete, Christian math curriculum that emphasizes skill mastery. Designed for
independent learning in grades 1-12, LIFEPACs are student worktexts (ten per
grade) that are largely self-instructional. The Kindergarten LIFEPAC Course is
teacher-student interactive, and uses two student books rather than the
worktexts. A Teacher Guide is available for each grade level and contains the
curriculum overview, notes, answer keys, and suggested schedule and teaching
guidelines. The Teacher Guides for grades K-1 provide more detailed instruction
for grades 2-12, to align with the self-teaching approach. Starting in second
grade, the LIFEPAC Worktexts provide more direct student instruction to
facilitate independent study. The parents role is to be available for student
questions, to administer and grade tests, complete teacher checks, and ensure
lesson completion.
Each Complete Boxed Set contains ten LIFEPACs and a teacher
guide. The only exception is the Grade K Boxed Set, which contains two student
books and a teacher guide. LIFEPACs only (no teacher guide) are also available
for use with multiple students. Review and self-tests are built into the
curriculum. LIFEPACs are colorful in the elementary grades, but become less
colorful as the grade level increases. Each set of ten LIFEPACs provides a
year-long curriculum.
You
might be wondering, "What's the difference between this curriculum and
Horizons Math?" After all, both programs come from the same publisher and
follow a similar scope and sequence up to the sixth grade. The main difference,
in my opinion, is that Horizons is not self-instructional (written instruction
is not included in workbooks). Another difference is that LIFEPACs offer
standard practice problems whereas Horizons offers a greater variety of
problems (mazes, decoding, etc) as well as standard drills, but LIFEPACs
provide many more problems per workbook page.